This list of my Top Ten Favourite Hotels is just that – the ten hotels in the world in which I have most enjoyed staying. Some of them are generally accepted as being top hotels, others are ones which particularly appealed to me for various reasons, mentioned below.
You can take it that all are Senior traveller friendly in that they provide first-class service without disturbance by hordes of children or noisy nightclubs. Value for money is a factor I also take into account. In most of these hotels you are able to get a Senior discounts on their normal rates – see Hotel Deals for Seniors to find out how to claim them.
Here are my Top Ten Favourite Hotels, listed by continent:
•Kempinski Hotel, Berchtesgaden, Germany. Set in the Bavarian Alps 3,000 ft above sea level, just below the Eagle’s Nest – Hitler’s hideaway – and near Lake Königssee. You can relax in the spa with an indoor pool which leads to an outdoor pool or simply sit back and enjoy the panoramic views and three restaurants. The tastefully decorated rooms feature a complimentary stay-healthy mini-bar stocked with wellness drinks, cereal bars and chocolate.
•Holiday Inn Express, Schwabach, Nuremberg, Germany. One of the best Holiday Inn Expresses anywhere in Europe – or indeed anywhere. I’ve stayed many times and always had very friendly service, a clean, smart, quiet room and an excellent breakfast. A hotel doesn’t need five stars to be a great hotel! A good place to stay if you are visiting Nuremberg by car, but don’t miss out on seeing the attractive town of Schwabach.
•Ceylan Intercontinental, Istanbul, Turkey. With a good location near Taksim Square and the tram terminus, this hotel offers impeccable service, with large, clean rooms. However I include it in my Top Ten because of the great views from the hotel rooms of the Bosphorus. You can spend a day just watching the ebb and flow of activity in the Bosphorus from sunrise to sunset and beyond.
•Le Royal Meridien, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai has some of the best hotels in the world and this is one of them. Of course one expects almost perfection in service, rooms and restaurants, but what I particular liked about this hotel were the pools (cooled to a pleasant temperature) and the attractive way the gardens flowed down to the beach. Maybe the attention to detail was a little over fussy – the petals in the bathroom and the cooling, scented flannels handed out around the pool – but I can live with it!
•Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch, South Africa. This may not be the top hotel in Stellenbosch, but I include it in my favourite hotels list particularly because of its fantastic, tranquil location in the Winelands, with views all around of the Helderberg mountain range. For a superb evening meal with accompanying wines, venture to the nearby Kleine Zalze vineyard.
•Crowne Plaza Key West La Concha, USA. The old, elegant hotel where Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams met and which features in one of Hemingway’s books: To Have and Have Not. You are right in the middle of town and get great views of sunset from the 7th floor bar. My large first floor balcony overlooked Duval Street and a shop which claimed to sell the “best key lime pie” in town.
•Staybridge Suites, Las Vegas, USA. The perfect place to stay if you want to avoid the flashy, noisy hotels of the Strip, but within walking distance. It has been in the TripAdvisor top 3 hotels in Las Vegas for many years and provides complimentary breakfast plus evening meal and drinks on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The suites – bedroom, living area, bathroom and kitchen – are furnished to a very high standard.
•Windsor Asturias Hotel, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Away from the bustle of the beach area, but with very good transport links (including to the beaches and the botanic gardens) via the nearby Metro Station, this friendly hotel offers large rooms and a great breakfast. The rooms on the top floors give wide views of Sugar Loaf and the Christ the Redeemer statue – views which you can also enjoy from the rooftop bar and pool.
•Aotea Motor Lodge. Wanganui, N. Island, New Zealand. I was surprised to find such smart, luxurious accommodation in such an out of the way place as Wanganui. It has large, clean, well-equipped rooms and mine featured a double-size spa bath. Breakfast was very good and there are some excellent restaurants nearby for an evening meal.
Apologies whilst I revise my list as only nine hotels at the moment. Number 10 will be appearing soon.
Of course I’ve only visited 80 countries, so my apologies to hotels in the other countries of the world that can’t of course feature in my list. But keep watching this page for updates as I visit more countries and more hotels.
